Cluedo Tour – Photo Credits: Craig Sugden


We are big fans of the productions The Play That Goes Wrong and my personal favourite A Comedy About a Bank Robbery (which reduced me to tears of laughter and still makes me giggle now when I think about certain scenes). I have had the privilege of seeing both award winning productions directed by Mark Bell, in the West End quite a few years ago. We were delighted to be invited to the press night production of Cluedo described as a comedy thriller based on the hit 1985 film CLUE and the classic board game, directed by Mark Bell.

The plot tells the story of a group of people, Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum, Mrs Peacock, Reverend Green, Mrs. White and Colonel Mustard (not their real names!) who arrive at a country house one dark and stormy evening. All of them are surprised to find they have all received the same intriguing invitation from Lord Boddy but it soon becomes clear that they all have something to hide as the mystery and hysteria grows. As the inhabitants and guests of Boddy Manor are killed off one by one, with a variety of familiar weapons, it leaves the audience guessing – who will be next!

David Farley’s set immediately transports the viewer inside the Cluedo mansion, as numerous doors open and close to reveal the rooms that players of the board game are so familiar with.

As expected, director Mark Bell has created a piece of farcical, choregraphed comedy chaos, that makes the audience laugh out loud at the sheer silliness of it all. Each member of this talented cast delivers the slapstick comedy moments, with perfect comedic timing. The cast have excellent chemistry with each other and were a joy to watch. I particularly enjoyed Jean-Luke Worrell’s performance as the Butler Wadsworth, who has wonderful stage presence and uses a mixture of movement, mime, and physical comedy to bring this zany character to life.


This slick, professional, extremely funny production keeps the audience guessing “whodunnit” right to the very end and provides an evening of light-hearted entertainment thoroughly enjoyed by this viewer. The show was also very positively received by the Tuesday night Birmingham audience.

Cluedo is at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham from the 2nd – 7th May where it continues its national tour.

MT

Theatretastic 4/5:


We say: “Slick, professional and extremely funny!”